Legere Says Sprint Merger would Help T-Mobile Compete

T-Mobile CEO John Legere said a merger of his company with the Softbank-held Sprint could put more pressure on what he called the "duopoly" of AT&T and Verizon.

Legere told Bloomberg that T-Mobile would eventually need more spectrum and other resources to compete with larger rivals and that merging with Sprint would be one way to do that. He said all Otherwise, he said, T-Mobile will need to find ways to acquire those more airwaves on its own.

Legere's comments come amid widespread rumors that Softbank and Sprint have secured the necessary financing to levy a bid for T-Mobile. Other reports say Softbank and Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile, have already agreed that a tie-up of thier interested in the United States would give them the best chance at competing.

Industry watchers remain skeptical, saying that securing financing for the deal may the easy part for Sprint. Negotiations would include four companies from three different countries, as well as a regulatory environment here in the United States that likes the status quo four-carrier competition in the market.

Shares of T-Mobile were down 1.5 percent to $31.20 as of 9:50 a.m., while Sprint was up over 5 percent to $8.85.